‘No one can stop me’: Zuma says ‘that boy from Nkandla’ didn’t finish his term as president

Former president Jacob Zuma has emphasised that he has lingering matters from his time in office, contending that he never finished his second term as president.

Zuma was addressing supporters outside the Electoral Court, where the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party challenged a decision by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to bar Zuma from contesting elections on Monday.

The IEC confirmed last week that it upheld an objection regarding Zuma’s nomination.

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The former president appeared on the MK party’s candidate list for the 2024 national and provincial elections.

However, Section 47 of the Constitution states that a candidate cannot be elected to Parliament if they have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without an option for a fine.

The candidate can only become eligible again after five years.

Watch: Jacob Zuma supporters protest outside Johannesburg High Court

Zuma’s ‘unfinished business’

But Zuma believes the IEC was not empowered to disqualify him from running for office.

He stressed that prohibiting him as a candidate would put him and his MK party supporters at a disadvantage.

“The matter about who has to be president is discussed in Parliament, not by the IEC. This is something unusual because the IEC shouldn’t be involved in politics. It’s not their job.

“According to the Constitution, the way things are done in South Africa is that majority rules.

“When the majority says a certain thing, no one can say ‘no, that’s not going to happen’ because of this and that. When the majority has spoken, it has spoken,” he told the crowd in IsiZulu on Monday afternoon.

READ MORE: Zuma could be allowed to contest elections due to Ramaphosa’s pardon

The former president reiterated that he failed to understand why presidents were only limited to rule two terms by law, saying he had unfinished business in the presidential office.

“When a lot of people say they want a certain person, who’s going to say no? How can they deny democracy when it’s in the Constitution? That’s what the Constitution states.

“That boy from Nkandla never finished his two terms; he didn’t complete them. I am not a part of that group because I didn’t finish my term.

“If the people want me to serve, no one can stop me. They forget that I didn’t finish my term; I was removed before completing my term. There’s something I need to finish there,” Zuma continued.

Zuma further stated that during his time in the ANC government, he never encountered the notion that someone who leaves a party to form their own would be ineligible to become its president.

“Nothing says that in law.”

He added that the MK party was aiming to fix the country.

Zuma pardon

In the court proceedings, Advocate Dali Mpofu told the Electoral Court, sitting in Johannesburg, that Zuma only served a three-month sentence.

Mpofu argued that the former president was granted remission of his sentence by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August 2023.

Zuma, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt), was the number one candidate on the MK party’s list for Parliament before his disqualification.

Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the IEC, countered by asserting that despite the time served by Zuma, his original sentence of 15 months remained in effect.

The judgment in the case will be delivered on Tuesday.

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